title: The effect of chewing gum on small-bowel transit time in capsule endoscopy: a prospective, randomized trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Approximately 1 in 6 capsule endoscopies (CEs) does not visualize the entire small bowel at completion of the examination because of limited battery life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether chewing gum can reduce the small-bowel transit time and increase CE completion rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, single-blind, randomized, controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  A tertiary university-affiliated hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients 19 years of age and older undergoing outpatient small-bowel CE from October 2010 to July 2012 were assessed for eligibility. Those with previous gastric or small-bowel surgery or ileostomy, dysphagia prohibiting capsule ingestion, diabetes mellitus with evidence of end-organ damage, use of narcotics or prokinetics within 5 days before the procedure, clinical hyper-/hypothyroidism, and symptoms suggestive of acute bowel obstruction were excluded.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gum chewing for at least 20 minutes every 2 hours starting at the time of capsule ingestion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Small-bowel transit time, gastric transit time, and completion rate were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chewing gum did not have any significant effect on gastric transit time (rate ratio 1.06; 95% CI, 0.73-1.55; P = .75), small-bowel transit time (rate ratio 0.91; 95% CI, 0.62-1.35; P = .65), or completion rate (91.67% chewing gum vs 88.71% control, P = .58) of CE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Single-center study involving relatively healthy subjects. Procedures were done on an outpatient basis so participants were not monitored for adherence to protocol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chewing gum does not speed up capsule transit or increase completion rate of CE in patients without risk factors for incomplete studies. (
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  NCT01241825.).
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Svarta
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Calvin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Cherry
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galorport
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Enns
mesh_terms: D053704:Capsule Endoscopy; D002638:Chewing Gum; D005260:Female; D005772:Gastrointestinal Transit; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010528:Peristalsis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method
chemical_list: D002638:Chewing Gum